This question comes from three CNET members whocoincidentally e-mailed me all within the same week, so let'sfind a solution for them. I'm sure many others who have acollection of VHS tapes are also looking to move them to adigital format.

I need to know how to convert my VHS tapes and my VHS-C tapesto a DVD. I have quite a few tapes that I made of the CHRRsand others that I'm afraid will become unplayable. Can youhelp me? Thanks.

--Submitted by John S.

Is there a method to make DVDs out of my invaluable VCRtapes? Thanks so much.

--Submitted by Gloria E.

What is the best and least expensive way to convert my homevideo on VHS tapes to DVD without having to record to adigital camcorder first?

--Submitted by Alan A.

Here are some member answers to get you started, butplease read all the advice and suggestions that ourmembers have contributed to this question within the discussion thread.

If you have any additional solution or advice for these members please click on the reply link below and submit your answer. Please be detail as possible when posting your solution and if you have references to how-tos, please include the link to them. Thank you!

I purchased Honestech's VHS to DVD 3.0 Deluxe some time ago. (It has since been updated to 4.0 which is a discounted "for purchase" upgrade to 3.0 users). I have not upgraded my 3.0, (yet) and from what I can tell both programs are identical in operation, 4.0 is just an enhanced version.

I am reasonably pleased with the program and Honestech's product support. (On support I would give them (4-1/2) of (5) stars). I have received several upgrades/patches for the 3.0 version and the program has version/update check built in. Given what the 4.0 offers I totally understand why it is a purchased upgrade. I have talked with other people that have similar programs from other developers and they all seem to have their quirks, (the programs, not the users). The other thing that must be considered as it is inevitable is that there is no such thing as high speed dubbing such as what you could do with audio cassettes years ago. Real time is real time and dependent upon how you set your video capture up there is a "digest" period following the capture before it writes to the CD. Nothing is fast but it can run either unattended or with minimal supervision and user inputs in the Advanced Mode. Would I buy it again? Yes. Will I buy the upgrade? Probably.

Use a Video Capture device such as Pinacle Spin it is free(Pinnacle Systems.com). You capture the tapes (from you VC, through the Device to your HD) then edit with Pinnacle and burn to disk with Nero or another program.

I have done numerous VHS tapes to DVD. Bought two years ago a RCA unit at Walmart for under $200, having a VHS slot and a DVD slot. VHS tape in, push copy after putting a blanc DVD in the disk tray. The VHS is transferred to DVD and after finalizing you have a playable DVD. You may want to edit the old VHS tape and/or upgrade it a little?. I have and still use an AV/DV converter from Canopus, model ADVC55, "Advanced Digital Video Converter". Input S-video or Composite in and fire/wire DV out to your computer and for me into Adobe Premier. Works smoothly and problemless. Maybe there are updated units today, but for me it never brought a problem for any VHS tape as long as you can output to the little unit, which is powered via your fire/wire computer connection.Willem Jochem

I had use the Plextor Convertx M402U and the bundled WinDVD Creator 2. It worked great. Unfortunately, it's no longer supported by Plextor. I recently picked up the Roxio Easy VHS to DVD. It works just as well. Use the software that comes with the usb capture device & it'll work fine. You can also get an internal tv tuner card, like WinTV HVR1600, which I also have. Good luck.

The simplest and probably cheapest and esaiest is to get a combo VHS / DVD recorder. Put the VHS you want to trnsfer in and a blank DVD in the recorder and make sure you are dubbing from the VHS to the DVD side. As for VHS C, you will need and adaptor for that. coastie

Hi: I can only tell you how I do this.I have a VCR Player/Recorder and a DVD Player/Recorder all hooked up to my TV so presently I Record/Tape on both the VCR and my DVD player at the same time. So I would just play my VCR Tape and record on my DVD Player. When using my video camera I have a Firewire on my computer so I can just connect to my computer directly from my camera.

Hi there, answer to converting VHS tapes to DVD is simple, just buya video player with dvd recorder combined. There not expensive.That's how i convert my vhs to dvds. I just put my VHS tape into VHS side and put blank DVD - or + in the dvd side and follow instructions in the book. On my machine, i just press COPY and it asks you if you want to copy vhs to dvd or the other way around. Its easy. Comes out like the vhs quality. This only works if you have vhs tapes you taped not the original VHS you bought from the shops (original) they come up encrypted or something and machine won't allow you copy write, but stuff you recorded works great. Good luck!!

And it may be no more, and perhaps less expensive than acquiring the hardware and software to do the conversion on a PC. You have to have hardware that can input an analog video signal from the VCR (or analog video camera), and output digitized video to your PC. And you need software typically to control this device and certainly to convert the digital video file into a format playable on DVD players.

From my experience, analog video to USB devices simply don't have sufficient throughput to do a very good job. I spent about $200 three years ago for a device to digitize an analog video input and output to a PC via IEEE 1394 (Firewire). Plus I spent close to $100 for DVD authoring software.

Two months ago I purchased a refurbished DVR for $70. I put in a recordable DVD, and select the recording quality (standard single layer recordable DVDs at full quality record about one hour, or by reducing the quality - just like a VCR - up to six hours). Then I cue my VHS tape, hit record on the DVR and walk away. At the end I have to tell the DVR that I am done recording ("finalize" the recordable DVD), label my DVD (typically with a 'Sharpie') and I'm done.

I can't ever see me using a PC ever again to just convert a VHS tape into a DVD, unless I am also going to do a lot of editing.

My company transfers vhs to DVD using stand alone DVD recorders and/or dual deck vhs/DVD recorders (primarily Panasonics). Video transfers is what I do for a living. In my case, I have several VHS players to choose from since many of my customers' tapes are in EP or LP mode and not all vhs players do a good job of tracking those tapes. I have found that those who have tried to import their video into a computer then burn a disc have lots of quality problems, so much so, that I and other companies I work with that do much of the same things I do avoid that process. We all use stand alone DVD recorders.

I would like to get a vhs/dvr combo unit to do my conversions. I am concerned about the quality of the tape drive. I don't want someting which will eat the tapes. These old home movies can't be replaced. Can you recommend some good brands or models? Thanks!

You just need the right kind of software to convert your tapes to DVD. I have converted VHS and VHS-C video tapes to DVD format using SONIC DigitalMedia Deluxe software. You just use the RCA jacks on your PC for VHS and Camcorder tapes. The software can be a pain to figure out so good luck.

Using a standalone VHS/DVD Recorder is certainly a good way to get the content in a form you can edit on your PC, as many others have said. You can then use many programs to edit the content.

I find it's best to copy the VIDEO_TS folder from the DVD to your hard drive first. I then use Windows Movie Maker to edit the content - I think this only works with the version that comes with Vista or Windows 7 - see for example http://www.papajohn.org/AboutMovieMaker.html or many other sources.

I've tried using Roxio, and was eventually able to get it to access the content in the VIDEO_TS folder, but WMM seems better and it's free!

Very simple to do..Can be done other ways, but i do things simple as possible..Merely install a video capture card(many new computers come with it already there) (In my case an old Hauppage 150..note why change something that works?) connect you vcr to the capture card and record the video off the tape as it plays via either channel 3 or channel 4 of the vcr (depends on which channel your vcr is set too). Once you have captured the video (tape)..(perhaps convert it to a video stream that you can use, most wont have too) in my case, i normally converts to a avi file and then i burn the avi file to a DVD using Nero (most other burner software can also do this)..Fast, Cheap, Efficient, and looks great)..Have fun

Have both a DVD recorder and a panasonic VHS tape player but can't figure out how to connect them to record my VHS vid cassette tape onto DVD. Can't see a record-out jack. I see RF out and Audio out (two sockets). And the scart socket av1TV and AV2 ext decoder.

You can try one of the numerous programs that perform this for you. I just bought Honestech's VHS to DVD 4.0 Deluxe. The software comes with a small, simple looking box that connects your VCR to your computer. I haven't tried it yet but it sounds real easy. The price was also good, an $80 program picked up on sale for $39.99 at London Drugs.Good Luck.

There is a product out that will do this for you. I purchased one off the net called EasyCap capture which connects to the VHS to USB which in turn will connect to your USB port of your Comp. I found it to be reasonably priced around $30 to $40. You may also be able to obtain one from any of the computer stores or Dick Smith's if in Australia.This may help.

What I did was buy a VHS to DVD recorder for under 200 I can make DVDs to Vhs or VHS to DVDs the only problem is its in real time so if you have a 6hr tape its going to take 6hrs of your time. Other then that they really come out very nice and clear Hope this helps its cheap and very easy Tom

I have been doing this for a year on some i have, i use a MagnavoxZV450MW8A, this system is probably not available today, purchased it a year ago, if you have a lot to do like i had ,t is time consuming, so set it to dub, and go away, if some media has deteriorated, you may find you will have to restart the dub. If you want to chapter it, you will need have an idea where to stop and start.Some of mine are over 10 years old, some ok some have flicker in. Editing will have to be done with another system, or unless you want to sit and watch a 6 or 4 hour tape and stop and start. Make a duplicate and be sure not to scratch them or you will need start all over, I have 4 in a year that i can not finalize., Buy an extended warranty, at years end you may be glad you did.Good luck

I did a Search on Google "VHS to DVD" And came up with several Methods. I use a Sylvania VHS to DVD deck that goes either way I can transfer VHS tapes to DVD'S or DVD'S to VHS tapes. You can pickup one of these decks at Big lots for $50.00 - $100.00. Be sure to check out the DVD media that the Deck uses to burn. Make sure the DVD's you burn will work in your DVD players or the DVD players of your friends you give copy's to. The old standard is -R DVD'S 8X Speed. Most older DVD Players out there play the old Standard. A little background about me. I am A retired IBM Computer Service Engineer. My hobby is Videoing Weddings. I also have a weekly Program on our local PUBLIC ACCESS channel this program has run for 14+ years It is our Sunday morning Church services. I also make copy's for shutins that can't get to the services.

I recently purchased hardware & software from Roxio to do this; but haven't found the time as yet. Check it out on Roxio.com. The device is called "Roxio easy VHS to DVD" and it sells for 59.99 I believe.Looks like it will do the job..

Get a "Dazzle Video Creator". If you have more than three tapes to transfer it will pay for itself compared to having someone else do it ofr you. When your done you can put it up on ebay to recoup some of your cost.

I haven't checked what's available now, but I have had a DVD recorder for a few years that is also a VHS VCR. It is a Panasonic DMR-ES30V and it is very easy to copy VHS to DVD or vice versa. It doesn't get much simpler than that. I have used it more to burn DVD's from programs I have on my DVR. Surely, this or a successor would still be available. I don't remember what I paid for it, but it wasn't terribly expensive.

I have yet to get around to transferring the bulk of my tapes, but I did a couple and it worked quite well. My biggest problem has been finding DVD ripping software that would then let me create files in a format that I could import into Adobe Premiere for editing. I finally found something, but it isn't my favorite software package and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else.

If you believe this post is offensive or violates the CNET Forums' Usage policies, you can report it below (this will not automatically remove the post). Once reported, our moderators will be notified and the post will be reviewed.

Track this thread and email me when there are updates.Please read before posting

If you're asking for technical help, please be sure to include all your system info, including operating system, model number, and any other specifics related to the problem. Also please exercise your best judgment when posting in the forums--revealing personal information such as your e-mail address, telephone number, and address is not recommended.

Old Thread Warning!

This thread is more than days old. It is very likely that it does not need any further discussion and replying to it will serve no purpose. However, if you feel it is necessary to make a new reply, you can still do so.

I am aware that this thread is old, but I still want to post a reply.

Checkbox must be checked in order to post in this old thread.

Sorry, there was a problem submitting your post. Please try again.

Sorry, there was a problem generating the preview. Please try again.

Duplicate posts are not allowed in the forums. Please edit your post and submit again.